Ange’s Thoughts
Last Thursday’s Club Assembly was small and cosy. We welcomed back Lynn and heard that Rachel and David had just landed. Good to have you all back on board.
Items discussed included agreeing to help the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) with catering for a weekend meeting of the Traditional Owners of the Mountains; we’ve put our hands up for a Breakfast BBQ 8-10 on Sunday 21 May at the Sport & Leisure Centre. NPWS will provide the food, Rotarian Francoise Cleret and partner John Cunningham have offered to bring their gas BBQ and gazebo. Lynn Hastings and I will help. In return, NPWS will donate $250 to Rotary.
This Thursday’s Business Networking Breakfast should be interesting with guest speaker Annette Kennewell talking about an exciting new initiative – the month long Fungi Feastival. More details below. Hope to see you there. It will be the last one until we reconvene in September when it’s warmer.
THIS THURSDAY – Business Breakfast
The Breakfast is at Narooma Surf Club 7am sharp. The BB will focus on an exciting new initiative– the ‘Fungi Feastival’ (16 June- 16 July) which will celebrate all things fungi from Batemans Bay to Eden.
It’s an initiative of three local fungi devotees Annette Kennewell, Fiona Kotvojs and Josh Whitworth to stimulate interest in growing a whole new industry in the region, from farming to culinary appreciation.
Events range from fungi science with mushroom growing workshops and truffle hunts, to mushroom and truffle cooking classes, to 10 participating restaurants offering mushroom and truffle dishes, and four restaurants showcasing mushrooms and truffle dinners, even to fungi photography and pottery workshops.
For more information on the Fungi Feastival, please check www.fungifeastival.com.au
The Week that Was
Bega Valley does RYDA
Bega Valley Rotary Clubs ran a successful Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) programme last week at the Go Kart track at Eric Johnson’s property. Several schools from the Bega Valley and Monaro attended to learn more about driver safety including lectures from the Police, demerit points and how they work, stories from crash survivors, practical lessons on stopping distances at different speeds, driver distractions and impact on safety and more.
Bega Rotary and Pambula Rotary as well as Merimbula and Tathra Lions Clubs volunteered over the three days as guides, BBQ cooks and lunch servers.
Out and About
Check your Bowels soon!
If you want to benefit from the annual Rotary BowelCare Programme which our Club always supports, kits are only available for purchase until 31 May. They are no longer sold through our local pharmacies; only online or by phone.
This programme is available for everyone regardless of age, whereas the free National Bowel Cancer Screening Program is only provided to those aged 50-74. Australia has the world’s highest incidence of bowel cancer with 1 in 12 men and women diagnosed with bowel cancer by age 85. It is Australia’s second biggest cancer killer. Yet this one simple and cheap test you can do at home could save your life.
Kits this year can be purchased through the online store at www.cancercareaustralia.org.au, or by phoning the BowelCare office Tuesday to Thursday 9.00 am – 3.00 pm (02) 4341 6695. The cost is $27.50 inclusive of postage and fees, pathology testing, and notification of your result to yourself and your nominated doctor.
BowelCare is a not-for-profit project supported by Rotary clubs across Australia to improve community health. BowelCare Australia is a division of CancerCare Australia Limited.
May is Youth Service Month – RYLA
One of Rotary’s sponsored programmes is RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards). RYLA is held in Canberra for a week in January each year and comprises lectures, activities, and mentoring by inspirational and qualified leaders in Business, Government, etc. Young people from 18 tom25 are eligible and it prepares them for future leadership roles in communities and in their workplace, giving them confidence to look ahead and achieve goals in their lives and follow their dreams.
If you know a young person who may be interested, please let the Board know.
NEXT WEEK
Thursday 25 May 6 for 6.30pm:
Dinner Meeting with guest speaker Annemarie Narraway on ‘The delight of hearing well – the privilege of the gift of sound’. Annemarie completed a four year Bachelor degree in Communication Pathology (intensive Speech Therapy and Audiology) at the University of Pretoria. She moved to Australia with her husband Tim, two suitcases each and $50 to their names. They started in Canberra in 2000, moved to Wagga Wagga in 2003. Eight years ago they moved to the South Coast. She has worked as a Specialist Audiologist, including in rural areas, and now owns her own practice in Narooma. She loves bringing the gift of better communication to people.
Sunday 28 May: Our monthly markets
Roster will be doing the rounds soon.